Little Havana bar is among 50 best in world again
MIAMI — Miami again has one of the best bars in the world, and it just keeps getting better.
Little Havana’s Café La Trova, the cocktail bar, restaurant and music venue has moved up the list for the third straight year among The World’s 50 Best Bars for 2022. The annual ranking, started in 2009, named Café La Trova No. 21.
James Beard Award-winning chef Michelle Bernstein and her husband, David Martínez, partnered with cocktail expert Julio Cabrera to create this old-world Cuban bar in Little Havana that remains a hit with the local crowd and tourists.
“Being selected #21 on the World’s 50 Best Bars list means so much to us,” Cabrera told the Miami Herald in a statement through a publicist. “It is a reward for our hard work and recognition for our passion for making people happy every day.”
Cabrera, whose father owned a bar in pre-Castro Cuba, learned from him the art of the “cantinero,” a sort-of performing mixologist. And he and his fellow cantineros put on a choreographed mixing show along with the traditional Cuban music at the bar. It’s common to see Cabrera break from the bar and dance among the seated crowd with his wife.
World’s 50 Best, in their summary of Café La Trova, wrote: “Cuban legend Julio Cabrera built Miami’s Café La Trova as the definitive homage to his homeland.”
Café La Trova has steadily moved up the list since it first was named No. 70 in 2020, a year after opening, and jumping from 28 last year.
On the longer list, coming it at No. 94, was Miami Beach’s Sweet Liberty, also owned by Martínez and Bernstein, started alongside the late John Lermayer.
“The entire Sweet Liberty family is thrilled and humbled for being included in this year’s top 100 bars of the world. As we are getting ready to celebrate our seven-year anniversary next week, we will also be celebrating this honor of being mentioned among the world’s best with the entire Miami community,” Martínez said.
The No. 1 ranked bar in the world was Paradiso, a speakeasy behind a pastrami shop in Barcelona, Spain, where the awards were announced Oct. 4.
“This one is dedicated to all the Latinos and immigrants that are fighting to make their dreams come true,” Cabrera wrote, “and it’s a good reason to celebrate our Hispanic Heritage with our beloved Miami community.”